Opened in November 2005, this enormous complex was created by HDH Pramukh Swami Maharaj spiritual leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. It shows ancient Indian art and culture and is the number one Hindu religious place.
I would seriously love to visit this place. And by the same token, all serious offers will be considered.
Akshardham
The tragedy in Haiti is trying to cloud my spirit so I call upon some extra chanting, light, incense, bells, gassho, and meditation to retain my peace of mind. It works for me.
Some Buddhists and others have what's known as a SPOT: "Special Place Of Tranquility" and it translates well to anybody no mater what your spiritual level. (S.P.O.T.)
Basic SPOT items are:
prayer or meditation beads, amulets, candles, incense and holder, bells, crystals, and flowers. Incense takes the center of the alter, shelf, or table, with a candle and a bell on the right and flowers on the left. Your SPOT should have a universal flavor that can also be individually customized.
You can chant, pray, meditate, or do a reading while lighting the candle, ringing the bell, or using the prayer beads in any order or rhythm that fits you. A minimal SPOT visit could just be ringing the bell and doing gassho (bowing with palms together), and you could have a more involved SPOT visit when something other than routine rolls around or mood dictates it. It can be as basic or grandiose as you wish.
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It IS the mother of all compassion.
There are numerous forms bodhisattva vows can take, depending on which Buddhist tradition one practices, but the essence of all of them is the desire to devote one’s life (and all future lives) to helping other beings end their suffering and reach Enlightenment.
Most of us walk around thinking about gaining happiness for ourselves. You may even think, “I would really like other beings to be happy.” A wish for their happiness. In the Buddhist framework, this translates to engaging in virtuous action either so that you’ll have a good rebirth in your next life, or, to gain personal enlightenment.
What sets the Buddhist bodhisattva path apart from this orientation is that rather than simply wishing for others to be happy, you decide that you personally are going to take responsibility for creating others’ happiness, for leading them to Enlightenment. And you will keep being reborn in this human realm time and again, so that you can help beings achieve that. And only when every last being has done so will you, too, retire to your own Buddha paradise.
...the thing about bodhisattvas is that their every action, because it’s motivated by this boundless love for beings, is a help for beings. The ways in which they can help are endless. They say that even the bodhisattva’s act of giving a tiny seed to a bird becomes a seed for enlightenment because of that great compassion.
To give you a more poetic idea of the bodhisattva’s approach to his or her work, I’ll quote “The Way of the Bodhisattva”, by the 8th century Buddhist master Shantideva. This teaching, which Shantideva presented orally, lays out how the bodhisattva lives and practices and works. These verses, from the chapter “Commitment”, are my favorites from the whole book:
May I be a guard for those who are protectorless,
A guide for those who journey on the road.
For those who wish to go across the water,
May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.
May I be an isle for those who yearn for landfall,
A lamp for those who long for light;
For those who need a resting place, a bed;
For all who need a servant, may I be their slave.
May I be the wishing jewel, the vase of plenty,
A word of power and the supreme healing;
May I be the tree of miracles,
And for every being the abundant cow.
Like the earth and the pervading elements,
Enduring as the sky itself endures,
For boundless multitudes of living beings,
May I be their ground and sustenance.
Thus for every single thing that lives,
As boundless as the limits of the sky,
May I be their livelihood and nourishment,
Until they pass beyond the bounds of suffering.”
It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community – a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the earth's survival.
The Wasson Thesis and the Religious View of Nature The Psychonautic Adventure - Three Generations of Discovery The Organic Light and Telestic Shamanism The Planetary Shift - Society or the Species
Second Annual David Lynch Weekend * May 25-28 * Memorial Day Weekend featuring Filmmaker David Lynch, Quantum Physicists John Hagelin, and Singer/Songwriter Donovan at the Maharishi University of Management. There will also be live brainwave demonstrations on meditataion and transcending.
Through David’s work, thousands of students are learning the creativity-enhancing, stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique in the US and around the world. David is now launching a new program "Teaching One Million Students to Meditate." Catching the Big Fish: Meditation Consciousness and Creativity - washingtonpost.com New David Lynch book and transcript from the online chat today on the Washington Post where he discusses films and transcendental meditation.
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