Weblog van: Swami Dharmananda
Swami Dharmananda is a spiritual master with over 25 years of teaching experience at Sri Ved Niketan Ashram Rishikesh. Swami Dharmananda was born to Shri Lal Mohan Das and Smt. Aparna Das in 1953 . Swamiji was brought up with very strong ideals and values by his father who wanted him to have a career in the army.Swamiji was therefore educated in Sainik School from where he graduated to National Defense Academy and passed out as a officer from the prestigous Military Academy of Dehra Dun. He was awarded the Madras Gold Medal for being the best student in sports. a short tenure he left the army to seek his spiritual destiny in Rishikesh.
He is soft spoken and reclusive by nature. He used to live for 25 years a quiet yoga life of meditation, silence and sadhana. He has been teaching the Science of Yoga and Indian Spirituality to earnest seekers coming to Rishikesh from all over the world. His lectures specially his mode of presentation with humor, stories and anecdotes has earned him wide acclaim. His lectures are available in a pack containing a set of 18 DVD’s. His lectures have been compiled in the form of a book, ‘Advance Yoga Study’. He is also the author of, ‘Inner Yoga’ a book of poems that reveals his inner struggle, his aspirations and his deep love of Krishna.
He has been dedicated fully to Spiritual life for close to 25 years and his Deeksha Guru is H.H.Sri VishwaGuruji Maharaj. He has been residing at Ved Niketan Dham, Swargashram, Rishikesh, India
He now lives in Colorado visiting places like Mount Washington and Encinitas, places connected to Paramahansa Yogananda, one of his Great Gurus and Teachers. It was in Encinitas that the great Guru Yogananda wrote his famous spiritual classic, Autobiography of a yogi.
Swamiji will continue here his teachings, spiritual retreats and psychological ministrations to a community of advance and very sincere truth seekers.
Makar Sankranti
Toegevoegd op 14-01-2011 om 23:51
Today is Makar Sankranti. When the sun shifts its location from one zodiac sign to the other that day is called sankranti. Makar Sankranti is the day when the sun enters the zodiac Capricorn.
It is the first of the holy days in the New Year in Hindu calendar. It is from this day,' Uttarayana' or the movement of the sun towards the northern hemisphere starts. According to the present scientific calculations this takes place from the 22nd of Dec. For some specific reasons the Rishis of ancient India considered the northern movement to start from this day. This uttarayan consist of six month period when the sun's rays fall more and more and is considered a very auspicious time for the people of the northern hemisphere.
In India people take a early morning Ganga bath and spend the day in fasting, prayer, silence and solitude. In spiritual life our duty is to develop the qualities of the sun and act like the sun. The sun is Pushne nourisher, Savitur creator giver of light, warmth and life. Let us as teachers and healers and instruments of the Divine radiate peace, love and cheer and thru our loving service bring health and well being in the lives of as many as possible. Let us who are already doing this work simply grow in this work more and more.
Life is an ever increasing onward movement towards a never ending infinite perfection. Let this onward movement towards increasing perfection become the source of our joy and total self satisfaction.
Silence and activity are two aspects of God. Both are source of joy and love and there has to be a balance between these two aspects in our lives. From the depths of inner silence thru daily meditation in the morning let us bring forth creative ideas, and manifests them in our daily lives and then at night again retire to that silence by meditating before falling to sleep. Sleep is unconscious meditation and meditation is conscious sleep.
With best wishes and deep love
Swami Dharmananda
Meaning and Purpose of Life
Toegevoegd op 13-12-2010 om 01:24
Dear Friends, Ever since I read the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi, more than 30 years ago my mind has always been in learning about the occult Science.
Dear Friends, Ever since I read the spiritual classic, Autobiogrqaphy of a Yogi, more than 30 years ago my mind has always been in learning about the occult Science. I never ever desired for things like Moksha, Nirvana, Salvation etc. My mind always wanted to know the meaning and purpose of life, where we come from, where we go after death. What sort of life we live after death. How did man first arrive on planet earth.
How does human civilization move from a Golden age downwards to a material age and again upwards to a Golden age. What causes human civilization to flourish and then disappear. Why there is evil and injustice in this world and how to cope with it. Today as my destiny places me in America I am studying much about the western civilisation and its roots. I cam across a very interesting story of Saint Germain. His re-incarnational journey, his final ascendency from the human kingdom to the Spiritual kingdom and the present work that he is doing connected with our human kingdom. His present role in our human life.
This story will be difficult for some of you to believe, so just take it as a food for thought. Others who are conversant with such stories relish it with joy. We have so many of such illustrious stories in our Indian culture. Human beings struggling in life, facing all types of pain and suffering, injuries and losses but through all these struggles the soul of man is steadily moving on from a human to an angelic being and from there to an ascended Master willing serving God and His plans in the trillions of aeons and countless Universes which come and go with each wink of His eye as we say in India.
My love to you all
From the Mystic Land of Colorado
Toegevoegd op 08-06-2010 om 13:27
Dear Friends,
I informed you about my inspiring trip to California. Well my next beautiful experience. In this small city of Lyons I beheld an art exhibition laid out not at one place but many places in individual houses on the 5th and 6th of Jun2010. I was taken to these places by Qiyra on Sat and Lisa on Sun. It was a real eye-opener to me to see such gifted artists and so many of them in such a small place with hardly any population. All warm open hearted people expressing their appreciation of God’s gift of life thru the medium of their art on paper, canvass, cloth, wood, metals. A very special and probably the biggest banjo in the world in the house of Athena and Jacob was something very amusing and entertaining. Art is an expression of man,s joy and love of life. Science is an expression of his adventurous spirit. Yoga is an expression of his seeking and manifesting divinity. Art expresses the heart, Science the head and Yoga expresses both in its best integrated state.
What can I say about my host Adeshaji and Dennisji.
Adeshaji is preparing 6 to 8 cups of tea daily , most of the time carrying it to my room, cooking both the meals, doing the laundry and cleaning my room when I am not present. All these when she is herself the main teacher involved in hours of counselling 4 to 5 clients each day, organising spiritual retreats, satsangs, musical evenings. She is a talented spiritual teacher, qualified counsellor, extremely good cook and an inspiring devotional singer and musician.
She is a good mother and has given to her three children the best of spiritual education. Each child has grown up very well and has specialised in very creative and spiritual activities.She has inspired and developed around her a community of very talented spiritual seekers. Most of them are themselves talented Yoga teachers, healers, counsellors, musicians and gifted Psychics. The word psychic I understand is not a very socially respectable term. I feel the society has to understand the term better. Psychics are evolved and gifted souls. In India we will call them as Yogis or Yoginis. They are individuals who are experiencing a range of truths not readily available thru the medium of the ordinary senses but available thru the medium of partially developed or well developed intuition. Therefore ordinary people do not understand them and their experiences.
A word about Dennisji. A tall, slim, amiable, affectionate wise man, always calm and always cheerful. He is presently involved in watering and mowing the green grass of the extensive lawn around the house. He is a computer proffessional specialising in designing web sites, talented musician and by his mere presence lends to this place an air of calm serenity.
The house also has an ideal location. To the east we have the St.Vrain river now at her best rapidity and movement flowing majestically in front. Budding flowers, chirping birds, tall trees, green grass, clear sky, occassional snowing, surrounding mountains and a deep silence characterises this place.
In this mystic land of Colorado, in this isolated quiet town of Lyons, in this spiritual atmosphere of Adeshaji’s house I am deeply grateful to all those powers and forces who worked to place me here. I am placed here by unknown forces whose purpose I do not understand but I do feel extremely grateful for the experiences it is giving me.
With love to all those people who are making this place so beautiful.
Swamiji