Loknath, who achieved super spiritual attainment, passed away at Barodi in Narayanganj at the age of 160 on this day in 1890.
He was born at Barasat in Pashchimbanga of India in 1730 (1137 Bangla).
Hinduism of the World...
Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Loknath`s 122nd death anniversary being marked
Loknath, who achieved super spiritual attainment, passed away at Barodi in Narayanganj at the age of 160 on this day in 1890.
He was born at Barasat in Pashchimbanga of India in 1730 (1137 Bangla).
Sunday, December 11, 2011
First Vedic Temple in Mongolia
Krishna Consciousness is being practiced in Mongolia since 9 years. From the very beginning Mongolians were eager to receive Vedic knowledge and be educated in the Vedic culture.
At the moment the Mongolian congregation has about 25 active devotees, of which three are being initiated. Some devotees went presently to India, Pune, to be further trained and educated.
Recently our first vegetarian restaurant "Govinda" opened right in the center of Ulan Batoor (capital of Mongolia), which is daily being visited by many people.
The only existing temple at the moment in Mongolia is a traditional Mongolian housing, called "ger" (yurta) where we hold our Sunday feast regularly.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Satya Narayan Mandir in New York
Satya Narayan Mandir - A brief Overview: The organisation operates and maintains a temple, called a GurMandir, in the SINDHI tradition, A GurMandir is a combination Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) and Mandir (Hindu place of worship); this observance of both religions in the same premises is uniquely a Sindhi tradition.
Satya Narayan Mandir is the oldest and we believe, the only GurMandir in the Americas.
History on development of the organisation and reasons for its formation : With the growth of the ethnic Indian community in the New York tri-state area, prayer meetings outgrew individual homes and garages. Satya Narayan Mandir was established to provide a place of worship for members of the public and especially the Sindhi community.
The organisation was also to help promote our religious beliefs and Indian culture to preach non-violence through prayer meetings and discourses, to inculcate our traditional norms and values amongst the younger generation (mostly US-born) as well as encouraging them to gain proficiency in devotional hymns and to partiipate in volunteer activities.
The organisation also provides the mechanism (forum) to invite well respected individuals, priests and other learned and holy persons to conduct lectures/discourses and conduct prayer meetings.
The organisation was created (as a NY corproration) in 1987, it acquired its property in November 1988. The Mandir is also an IRS 501c3 corporation.
More info...
Satya Narayan Mandir is the oldest and we believe, the only GurMandir in the Americas.
History on development of the organisation and reasons for its formation : With the growth of the ethnic Indian community in the New York tri-state area, prayer meetings outgrew individual homes and garages. Satya Narayan Mandir was established to provide a place of worship for members of the public and especially the Sindhi community.
The organisation was also to help promote our religious beliefs and Indian culture to preach non-violence through prayer meetings and discourses, to inculcate our traditional norms and values amongst the younger generation (mostly US-born) as well as encouraging them to gain proficiency in devotional hymns and to partiipate in volunteer activities.
The organisation also provides the mechanism (forum) to invite well respected individuals, priests and other learned and holy persons to conduct lectures/discourses and conduct prayer meetings.
The organisation was created (as a NY corproration) in 1987, it acquired its property in November 1988. The Mandir is also an IRS 501c3 corporation.
More info...
The Hindu Temple Society of North America
Ganesh Temple History
The logo of the Society is a light surrounded by insignias of several religions with OM on top. It signifies universality, catholicity and spirit of tolerance of Hinduism. While stressing the supremacy of the Absolute and deifying some of the major aspects as represented by the main deities, the Center stresses the totality and fundamental unity at the core of all religion. Hinduism has no place for crusades. 
The Hindu Temple is situated right in the heart of Flushing, which is a part of Queens County. Although Queens is, politically speaking, one of the five boroughs of New York City, it is, in geographical terms, a part of Long Island and is, therefore, largely a residential area. The Temple is easily accessible to its devotees both by private and public transportation. Within walking distance of the Temple are two branches of the New York Public Library, the Queens Botanical Garden, Kissena Park, and Flushing Meadow Park, and the Main Post Office. The Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts is a stone’s throw from the Temple, while the Queens Museum is a short ride away by automobile or subway. Community Center
The Hindu Temple Society of North America ("Society"), a non-profit religious institution was incorporated on January 26, 1970, under the laws of the State of New York. Soon thereafter, the Society acquired from the Russian Orthodox Church a site on which the present Temple is situated. It was in this small frame house that daily rituals were performed and weekend services conducted by volunteer priests, until the present structure, designed in accordance with the Agama Sastras (scriptures relating to temple building), was completed early in 1977, and the Temple consecrated on July 4 of the same year. His Holiness Sri La Sri Padrimalai Swamigal, a great siddha from Madras, had prepared twenty-six yantras for the temple and done pujas for them for five years before installing them on July 4, 1977.
The logo of the Society is a light surrounded by insignias of several religions with OM on top. It signifies universality, catholicity and spirit of tolerance of Hinduism. While stressing the supremacy of the Absolute and deifying some of the major aspects as represented by the main deities, the Center stresses the totality and fundamental unity at the core of all religion. Hinduism has no place for crusades. As the first Hindu Temple in North America composed of largely imported materials, and constructed by artisans from India, Šri Mahã Vallabha Ganapati Devasthãnam (or the Ganeša Temple) is one of the most impressive and historically important Hindu temples in the West. Flushing, Queens was chosen as the location for the Ganeša temple based on three criteria: it was the gateway of the U.S. - all Indian immigrants came here and there was a large concentration of Hindus in the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut; it was within walking distance for many, or one bus or subway fare; and the possibility existed to purchase a suitable site. Its strength and influence outside of New York is proven by the fact that the temple has served as a model for many other Hindu communities.
The Hindu Temple Society of North America today has over twenty thousand devotees on its mailing list. In addition to these, there are thousands of other devotees not necessarily on the mailing list who benefit from religious and cultural activities of the Temple, and to which generous contributions are made. It is the intent of the Society to offer formal instructions in religion, philosophy, culture and the arts to its devotees and their families. Fund Raising activities of the temple include organizing pooja sponsorship (services), cultural events, temple gift certificate, fund raising dinner, gold coin mala, sponsorship of chairs and constituent parts for the community center and other projects.
Neighborhood and Community The Hindu Temple is situated right in the heart of Flushing, which is a part of Queens County. Although Queens is, politically speaking, one of the five boroughs of New York City, it is, in geographical terms, a part of Long Island and is, therefore, largely a residential area. The Temple is easily accessible to its devotees both by private and public transportation. Within walking distance of the Temple are two branches of the New York Public Library, the Queens Botanical Garden, Kissena Park, and Flushing Meadow Park, and the Main Post Office. The Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts is a stone’s throw from the Temple, while the Queens Museum is a short ride away by automobile or subway. Construction of Community Center was completed in June 1998. This community center is one of the largest and the finest of its type in the borough of Queens and has its main entrance at the corner of Holly Avenue and Smart Street. The center has three floors. The main floor is the wedding hall and can be divided into two, with a sound proof partition in between, so that two functions may take place simultaneously. The second floor is the auditorium with seating capacity of over 700 and it is equipped with state of the art audio and lighting facility. In the lower level is a large industrial kitchen with a large dining hall. Cultural programs, discourses, weddings and many other events take place in the Community Center.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University(BKWSU)
We study spiritual knowledge that nurtures respect for all faith traditions, coherently explains the nature of soul, God, time, and karma, and delineates an enlightened lifestyle.
We practise and teach a form of meditation that relaxes the mind and nurtures a healthy balance between our inner and outer worlds. Through numerous social service activities and partnerships, we promote spiritual understanding, leadership with integrity and elevated actions towards a better world.
All of the Brahma Kumaris centres offer courses in meditation and spiritual knowledge, as well as seminars and special events facilitating self development and personal change. All courses, seminar and workshops are offered to the public free of charge, as a community service.
The Foundation Course in Meditation, described below, is available at every Brahma Kumaris centre on a regular basis. The other courses are offered from time to time. For information as to what is available in your area, contact a Centre near you.Russian Tantra Sangha
Tantra Sangha has fifteen spiritual communities and satsang groups with estimated 250 members in Moscow and other towns. As of December 2005, the Federal Registration Service of Russia has registered only two Tantra Sangha branches. The first registered branch is in Moscow, the Second Tantra Sangha branch at Nizhniy Novgorod was officially recognized on December 7, 1993. Tantra Sangha perform Vedic fire ceremonies under the open sky near rivers and forests according to orthodox Vedic Hindu rites adjusted for the Russian situation.
Nizhny Novgorod: colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg. It is the economic and cultural center of the vast Volga-Vyatka economic region, and also the administrative center of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast and Volga Federal District.
From 1932 to 1990, the city was known as Gorky after the writer Maxim Gorky who was born there.
From 1932 to 1990, the city was known as Gorky after the writer Maxim Gorky who was born there.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Hindu Kush in Afghanistan
The names Hindu Kush (Persian: هِندوکُش), Hindu Kūh (هِندوکوه) and Kūh-e Hind (کوهِ هِند) are usually applied to the entire range separating the basins of the Kabul and Helmand rivers from that of the Amu River (ancient Oxus) or more specifically to that part of the range, northwest of the Afghan capital Kabul. Sanskrit documents refer to the Hindu Kush as Pāriyātra Parvata (पारियात्र पर्वत). Greek geographers adapted the Persianto "Paropanisadae" by Greeks in the late first millennium BC.
The Persian-English dictionary indicates that the word 'Kush' is derived from the verb Kushtar - to slaughter or carnage. Kush is probably also related to the verb Koshtan meaning to kill. In Urdu, the word Khud-kushi means act of killing oneself (khud - self, Kushi- act of killing).
Encyclopedia Americana comments on the Hindu Kush as follows: The name Hindu Kush means literally 'Kills the Hindu', a reminder of the days when (Hindu) slaves from the Indian subcontinent died in the harsh weather typical of the Afghan mountains while being transported to the Muslim courts of Central Asia .
The National Geographic Article 'West of Khyber Pass' informs that 'Generations of raiders brought captive Hindus past these peaks of perpetual snow. Such bitter journeys gave the range its name Hindu Kush - "Killer of Hindus"'. The World Book Encyclopedia informs that the name Kush, .. means Death . While Encyclopedia Britannica says 'The name Hindu Kush first appears in 1333 AD in the writings of Ibn Battutah, the medieval Berber traveller, who said the name meant 'Hindu Killer', a meaning still given by Afgan mountain dwellers who are traditional enemies of Indian plainsmen (i.e. Hindus).
A revisionist description of the meaning of the name goes as follows. The word "Koh" or "Kuh" means mountain in many of the local languages. According to Nigel Allan, there were at least two meanings for "Hindu Kush" common centuries ago "mountains of India" and "sparkling snows of India" - he notes that the name is clearly applied from a Central Asian perspective. Others maintain that the name Hindu Kush is probably a corruption of Hindi-Kash or Hindi-Kesh, the boundary of Hind (i.e. Indian subcontinent).
History
Alexander the Great explored the Afghan areas between Bactria and the Indus River after his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BC. It became part of the Seleucid Empire before falling to the Indian Maurya Empire around 305 BC.
Alexander took these away from the Aryans and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.[10]—Strabo, 64 BC–24 AD
Indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BC, but lost the area to the Kushan Empire about 100 years later.
| “ | Before the Christian era, and afterwards, there was an intimate connection between the Kabul Valley and India. All the passes of the Hindu-Kush descend into that valley; and travellers from the north as soon as they crossed the watershed, found a civilization and religion, the same as that much prevailed in India. The great range was the boundary in those days and barrier that was at time impassable. Hindu-Kuh--the mountain of Hind--was similarly derived. | ” |
Ibn Batuta, a scholar from Morocco, visiting the area in the 14th century wrote:
Another reason for our halt was fear of the snow, for on the road there is a mountain called Hindukush, which means "Slayer of Indians," because the slave boys and girls who are brought from India die there in large numbers as a result of the extreme cold and the great quantity of snow. The passage extends for a whole day march. We stayed until the warm weather had definitely set in, and cross this mountain by a continuous march from before dawn to sunset.—Ibn Batuta, 1333
Pre-Islamic populations of the Hindu Kush included Shins, Yeshkun, Chiliss, Neemchas Koli, Palus, Gaware, Yeshkuns, Krammins, Indo-Scythians, Bactrian Greeks, Kushans.
Mountains
The mountains of the Hindu Kush system diminish in height as they stretch westward: Toward the middle, near Kabul, they extend from 4,500 to 6,000 meters (14,700 feet to 19,100 feet); in the west, they attain heights of 3,500 to 4,000 meters (11,500 feet to 13,000 feet). The average altitude of the Hindu Kush is 4,500 meters (14,700 feet). The Hindu Kush system stretches about 966 kilometres (600 miles) laterally, and its median north-south measurement is about 240 kilometres (150 miles). Only about 600 kilometres (370 miles) of the Hindu Kush system is called the Hindu Kush mountains. The rest of the system consists of numerous smaller mountain ranges including the Koh-e Baba, Salang, Koh-e Paghman, Spin Ghar (also called the eastern Safēd Kōh), Suleiman Range, Siah Koh, Koh-e Khwaja Mohammad and Selseleh-e Band-e Turkestan. The western Safid Koh, the Malmand, Chalap Dalan, Siah Band and Doshakh are commonly referred to as the Paropamise by western scholars, though that name has been slowly falling out of use over the last few decades.
Rivers that flow from the mountain system include the Helmand River, the Hari River and the Kabul River, watersheds for the Sistan Basin.
Numerous high passes ("kotal") transect the mountains, forming a strategically important network for the transit of caravans. The most important mountain pass is the Salang Pass (Kotal-e Salang) (3,878 m); it links Kabul and points south of it to northern Afghanistan. The completion of a tunnel within this pass in 1964 reduced travel time between Kabul and the north to a few hours. Previously access to the north through the Kotal-e Shibar (3,260 m) took three days. The Salang tunnel at 3,363 m and the extensive network of galleries on the approach roads were constructed with Soviet financial and technological assistance and involved drilling 1.7 miles through the heart of the Hindu Kush.
Before the Salang road was constructed, the most famous passes in the Western historical perceptions of Afghanistan were those leading to India. They include the Khyber Pass (1,027 m), in Pakistan, and the Kotal-e Lataband (2,499 m) east of Kabul, which was superseded in 1960 by a road constructed within the Kabul River's most spectacular gorge, the Tang-e Gharu. This remarkable engineering feat reduced travel time between Kabul and the Pakistan border from two days to a few hours.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
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