The Easter Prayer of an American HinJew: More Sugar, Please
Anna Monday with Jon Monday
Sri Ramakrishna observed that the scriptures are a mixture of sugar and sand and that it is, moreover, up to us to discriminate, to take the sugar and leave the sand. Often, identifying the sand is easy because it‘s just so boring, but sometimes it harbors unhelpful or even harmful notions—outmoded social mores, refuted pseudo-science, quack medicine.
…
Mahatma-to-be and the Mahatma-maker: Gandhi and Rajchandra – Part 2
by Uma Majmudar
In the previous issue (AV #71) we talked about a rare rapport between Mohandas Gandhi and Shrimad Rajchandra — a multi-talented young Jain businessman-cum-a precocious poet who was, above all, a “mumukshu” — an ardent seeker after truth with an irrepressible yearning for God, for self-realization and moksha or liberation from…
…
How Well Do You Know Yoga?
by Br. Shankara
Perhaps you have been practicing Hatha Yoga for some time, with a qualified teacher. You know a flexible routine of poses (asanas), and you have gained the physical poise and sense of inner balance that are two wonderful fruits of your practice. Yet, there is much more to learn about the great tradition of which Hatha Yoga is a part.
…
New Material for the Swami Vidyatmananda Archive at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin
by Anna Monday
The correspondence between Swami Vidyatmananda (John Yale, 1913-2000), and longtime American Vedantist contributor Bill Page will soon be housed in the Harry Ransom Center’s Swami Vidaytmananda Archive. The Center describes the Archive as such: “The Swami Vidyatmananda Collection comprises correspondence to Vidyatmananda as well as…
…
Mahatma-to-be and the Mahatma-maker: Gandhi and Rajchandra
By Uma Majmudar
Mahatma Gandhi, a world revered spiritual-political leader, is known to have positively influenced countless men and women around the globe. Yet, not many people know the key figure who influenced Gandhi in the most profound ways before he became known as ‘’Mahatma,” or Great soul (Maha: great, and atma: soul). If Mohandas Gandhi metamorphosed into Mahatma, who was the Mahatma-maker?
Pray, Let Us Play
By Anna Monday
We seek God for many reasons, not all noble. We focus on God’s power to protect us, guard our health, give us the stuff on our cosmic gift registry, and also love us when nobody else will take our calls. When we’re reasonably comfortable, many of us want our curiosity about the nature of God/Life satisfied. But how many seek God because they want the wittiest, most subtle playmate in the entire Universe?
Old Age and the Grumpy Old Man Syndrome
By William Page
One of the less pleasant transitions that we have to make in this life is the passage to old age. There’s a line in the movie “Elegy” that goes something like this: “The biggest surprise in a man’s life is old age.” The Mahabharata anticipates this insight in the incident where the god Dharma asks King Yudhisthira what the most surprising fact of life is. The king replies, “People see other people dying around them all the time, but nobody truly believes that he himself will die.”
Transition: When the In-Charge Passes
By Swami Yogeshananda
When the Head of one of our monastic institutions, a monastery or convent, passes on, the event can cause turbulent and stressful reactions in the residents. Then again it may not. If the event is unexpected, of course, it is more likely to be upsetting. Decisions may be much delayed, while we want them to be resolved at once. Sometimes our “world” can almost seem to fall apart.
