Tag Archives | Spirituality

The speech that launched a thousand yogis

By on January 12, 2011 in Yoga/Spirituality
Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda’s famous speech

January 12 is Swami Vivekananda’s birthday (born 1863). In honour of his birthday, I am posting the speech he made in 1893 at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He was the first Indian swami, or guru, who really made a big impact on the west. To say he stole the show is an understatement. His speech was phenomenally well-received, and it is still resonating to this day. Watch this and marvel — he spoke extemporaneously, without notes and without preparation. His message of the inherent tolerance of Hinduism is very inspiring — but his wish that the Parliament of Religions would sound the death knell to fanaticism is bitter-sweet since we know it has only risen in the last 100 years.

You can read more about him in recent article called Three gurus who changed the face of spirituality in the west by Philip Goldberg. January 12 is also Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s birthday (he will forever be known as the Beatles guru….).

Personal note: My Mother died on January 12, 1998, a full moon night. I always knew she was a mystic.

~
.

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How to meditate: The top story of 2010

By on December 31, 2010 in India, News/Events
yoga on the beach in Goa, India

Photo courtesy of Dave Bouskill, PictureThePlanet.com

Yoga, meditation and spirituality: The 2010 version

One of the top 10 Google searches in India in 2010 was “how to meditate.” While the debate in the west, especially in the USA, was raging over “who owns yoga,” Indians were using high-tech solutions — computers and advanced, online search algorithms — to reconnect with their spiritual heritage. I think this is one of the top stories of 2010. We humans are all about connection — hence Facebook’s popularity — and connecting with yourself at the deepest, or highest, level is the epitome.

Connecting with myself, in retrospect, was probably the main reason I went to India in the first place, back in 2005. Before I made that first six-month trip, India seemed like such a far-away place, such a mythical land, that I did not really believe you could actually get on a plane and fly there in a matter of mere hours. But now it feels like India and Canada — the east and the west — are coming closer together in so many ways. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Continue Reading →

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Deepak Chopra and the happiness formula

By on December 4, 2010 in News/Events, Yoga/Spirituality
Deepak Chopra at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, talking about happiness and the importance of spirituality

Deepak Chopra at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto

How to find happiness: look within

Thanks to MyBindi, and about 25 Facebook friends, I won front-row tickets to see Deepak Chopra at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto — and I also won seats from Zoomer Media, which I gave to well-deserving friends. Almost two years ago, I wrote a blog post about why I admire Deepak Chopra, and how I feel we have the same mission, which is Sharing India’s wisdom with the world.

Deepak Chopra walked very simply on an almost-empty stage wearing jeans, thick-soled boots, a black jacket and jeweled glasses. With no fanfare whatsoever, he began speaking directly to the audience in a straightforward and down-to-earth manner. He spoke extemporaneously for about 90 minutes, with ease, intelligence and an absolute grasp of his material. Continue Reading →

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Collisions with karma

By on October 24, 2010 in India, Yoga/Spirituality
Shiva painting on ghats in Varanasi, Benares India

On the ghats in Varanasi, India

Capturing the concept of karma

Karm cola, karma chameleon, karma co-op, karma account, increase your good karma, it’s your karma baby … Karma has become an all-purpose word in the west that is used fairly indiscriminately without much understanding of what it really means. This is probably a pretty common phenomenon when words migrate from another language / culture. I can tell you that, as a serious student of yoga, Hinduism and Indian culture, I have been trying to wrap my mind around the word karma for years, and I have barely gleaned its meaning.

I’ve been thinking about karma for a couple of reasons lately. One, I just finished reading the book Karma Cola. Continue Reading →

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A long walk on a hot day in India

By on July 24, 2010 in News/Events
Kumbh Mela Festival in Haridwar, India, 2010

Aarti (evening ceremony) during Kumbh Mela Festival in Haridwar, India, 2010

Getting lost at the Kumbh Mela Festival in India

“No,” said the khaki-clad policeman. “You don’t have the right pass.” It took me a moment to grasp that I was not going to be able to join my colleagues on the media platform. The spectacle of hundreds of naga sadhus parading into the centre of Haridwar, India was the pinnacle of the Kumbh Mela, the largest spiritual gathering on earth, and I wanted to see it

That morning, I rose before dawn and walked 13 kilometres into Haridwar with a group from the ashram to take a dip in the Ganges River. It was the most auspicious moment to bathe during the festival, and millions of devotees were streaming into the city to take part.

After bathing, I separating from my ashram group to join my journalism colleagues on the platform. When I was turned away, I was stunned. The sun was climbing in the sky, I didn’t know the route back and the city was completely closed and packed with pilgrims.

Buoyed by the intense devotional energy, I somehow found the winding route back to the ashram. Arriving, I felt exhilarated and realized I would never be the same.

That morning, I discovered the truth and power of ritual. It’s not about the achievement. It’s about how a peak experience can change our idea of who we are and what we are capable of. Which is a lot to get out of a long walk on a hot day in north India.

This post has been entered into the Grantourismo and HomeAway Holiday-Rentals travel blogging competition.

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Photo of the Week: Naga Sadhu

By on July 20, 2010 in India, Photos, Yoga/Spirituality
Naga Sadhu (naked holy man) at Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India

Naga Sadhu (naked holy man) at Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India

Naga Sadhu at the Kumbh Mela, Haridwar, India

I took this photo in the Naga Sadhu’s camp during the Kumbh Mela in April 2010. I went into Haridwar for the day with two men who were also staying at Aurovalley Ashram — Lalit and Jean-Pierre. We spent an amazing day together, hanging out with the sadhus, swimming in the Ganges and having a lot of fun. I could never have had these experiences without the help of Lalit, who is a large, gregarious Punjabi man who speaks Hindi (and English and French). We spent a long time in this camp, where I bonded with this incredibly sweet young man (but I don’t remember his name!). I wrote about another Kumbh Mela day — the main bathing day — in Alone, and at home, at the Maha Kumbh Mela, the largest gathering on earth. Continue Reading →

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Spiritual wisdom of India at IdeaCity

By on June 23, 2010 in News/Events, Yoga/Spirituality

Spiritual wisdom of India: Mallika Chopra on stage at IdeaCity

Goddesses of wisdom:

Lakshmi Pratury and Mallika Chopra

The spiritual wisdom of India was well-represented at the IdeaCity conference in Toronto, June 16-18, 2010. Mallika Chopra (daughter of Dr. Deepak Chopra and founder of Intent.com) and Lakshmi Pratury (TED India conference organizer, India-U.S. relationship builder and organizer of the upcoming INK conference in India) both spoke about taking a positive and proactive approach to life. They are both of Indian origin or ancestry and both live in California — and both told stories about their grandmothers. But it was the essence of Indian spirituality and wisdom, which they shared and embodied, that made them stand out, for me, among the many stellar presenters at the conference. Continue Reading →

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Video panorama of world’s largest gathering

By on June 1, 2010 in Destinations, India, Yoga/Spirituality
Photograph of the evening aarti in Haridwar, India during Kumbh Mela 2011

Evening aarti in Haridwar, India during Kumbh Mela 2011

In the midst of millions

I took this video from the media platform in the middle of Har-ki-pauri, Haridwar (north India) during the Kumbh Mela — which is the world’s largest gathering of humanity on earth. To read about this massive Hndu spiritual festival — and my harrowing adventures finding myself alone in the midst of millions — read Alone and at Home at the Kumbh Mela. Continue Reading →

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Yoga as a window into Indian culture

By on May 19, 2010 in India, Travel Tips, Yoga/Spirituality

Outdoor yoga class at temple, Varanasi

Knowing yoga helped me feel at home in India

When you visit or move to any new country, there are so many things to get used to. This is especially true if the new culture is extremely different from what you’re used to. And India is about as far from orderly, efficient, sparsely populated, wealthy and cold Canada as you can get. However, one of India’s most popular cultural exports, yoga, was readily available in my hometown (Toronto) and I practiced and studied it for well over 10 years before I set foot in India for the first time.

Continue Reading →

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Alone, and at home, at the Kumbh Mela

By on April 16, 2010 in Destinations, India, News/Events, Responsible Travel, Yoga/Spirituality

Har-ki-Pauri, Haridwar during Maha Kumbh Mela

A sea of humanity, an ocean of bliss

April 14, 2010 was the highly auspicious final Royal Bathing Day at the Maha Kumbh Mela – the biggest and perhaps most important spiritual festival in the Hindu world, and the largest gathering of humanity on earth. As I was staying at my spiritual home, Aurovalley Ashram, just about 10 kilometres upstream from Haridwar, I found myself caught up in the excitement. And on the morning of the big day itself, I found myself alone, smack in the centre of the Kumbh Mela, at the extremely sacred Har-ki-Pauri ghat in Haridwar, surrounded by millions, probably tens of millions, of pilgrims, devotees, tourists, naga sadhus, babas, sunnyasis, pandits, swamis, VIPs and god knows who else. All the roads into and out of Haridwar in every direction were closed for miles around, the sun was climbing and the temperature was starting to soar to above 40 C. It was one of the peak experiences of my life: In that moment, I had to face my fears. Continue Reading →

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