Science of Knowledge & Wisdom

Dr. Swami Karmananda Saraswati; MB, BS (syd)  Psychologists and medical workers throughout the world have conducted an impressive number of investigations into the alterations of physiological, endocrine and metabolic functions which accompany meditative states of consciousness. Meditation has been found to bring about relaxation and balance in cardiac, respiratory, hormonal and circulatory systems, and is being recommended by many doctors for patients suffering from diverse psychosomatic and stress induced illnesses. In addition, large numbers of men and women are integrating simple meditation as an effective preventive and relaxative therapy into their highly stressed and competitive modern lifestyles. At the same time, psychologists and psychiatrists have reported profound alterations in mental health and emotional well being, together with diminished subjective and objective manifestations of anxiety, in individuals who practise meditation for a short period each day. Lab...

Edited by Allie M. Frazier (Source: Readings in Eastern Religious Thought – Hinduism vol. 1. Edited by Allie M. Frazier pg 10-16) In considering the beginning and development of Western philosophy  G.W. Hegel  remarked, that in the West the  “mind’s way is roundabout”.  By this he points to the significant fact that Western thinkers first directed their attention to the  external world.  The most significant development in Western philosophy, is build upon the premise that truth is a relationship which exists between judgements and real things. The problem of the relationships and between thinking and reality thus emerged as a central concern for Western thinkers.  Part of our heritage in the West is the recurring attempts to evade the transcience of earthly life by means of religious hopes, metaphysical systems and vigorous activism. Time exists by virtue of its “perpetual perishing”. Any being subject to time is subj...

By Alok K. Bohara, Ph.D.  Professor  University  of  New Mexico   Until the turn of the 19th Century, the Western view of the Hindu religion was mostly identified with a dazzling array of cultural mosaic and mysticism of  India   filled with both imaginable and unimaginable. It began to change after Swami Vivekananda gave his famous speech on the teachings of the Vedanta in  Chicago   in 1900 during the gathering of the World Parliament of Religions. The true teaching of the Vedanta contained in the Gita, Vivekananda told his mesmerized Western audience, has very little to do with the flying sadhus, the endless Hindul rituals, and the caste-system.    Citing the Gita, he voiced his opposition to organized religion, priestly control of spirituality, and then he also informed us of the existence of the female Rishis  (Vedic teachers)  in the Vedanta. Over night, Vivekananda introduced to the West the true liberated...

A common belief among ancient cultures was that the laws of numbers have not only a practical meaning, but also a mystical or religious one. This belief was prevalent amongst the Pythagoreans. Prior to 500 B.C. E., Pythagoras, the great Greek pioneer in the teaching of mathematics, formed an exclusive club of young men to whom he imparted his superior mathematical knowledge. Each member was required to take an oath never to reveal this knowledge to an outsider. Pythagoras acquired many faithful disciples to whom he preached about the immortality of the soul and insisted on a life of renunciation. At the heart of the Pythagorean world view was a unity of religious principles and mathematical propositions. In the third century B.C. E. another great Greek mathematician, Archimedes, contributed considerably to the field of mathematics. A quote attributed to Archimedes reads, "There are things which seem incredible to most men who have not studied mathematics." Yet accordi...

Tilak is a mark of auspiciousness. It is put on the forehead with sandal paste, sacred ashes or kumkum (red tumeric). The devotees of Siva apply sacred ashes (Bhasma) on the forehead, the devotees of Vishnu apply sandal paste (Chandan), and the worshippers of Devi or Shakti apply Kumkum, a red tumeric powder. The scriptures say: "A forehead without a Tilak, a woman without a husband, a Mantra the meaning of which is not known while doing Japa (recitation), the head that does not bend before holy personages, a heart without mercy, a house without a well, a village without a temple, a country without a river, a society without a leader, wealth that is not given away in charity, a preceptor without a disciple, a country without justice, a king without an able minister, a woman not obedient to her husband, a well without water, a flower without smell, a soul devoid of holiness, a field without rains, an intellect without clearness, a disciple who does not consider his precep...