Author: Chitvish

What is Culture ? I wish to make a mention that my inspiration is mainly drawn from the books by Chinmayananda ,Dayananda and ofcourse, Vivekananda. I respect their schools of teaching very much. Man’s control of external nature is called civilization. His control of internal nature is called culture. Our culture is deep and beautiful. We must learn to admire and respect the same. Instead of mechanically following the customs, if we try to understand their significance we learn there is logic, science, social as well as spiritual significance in many of them. We must make an effort to...

We go round the sanctum sanctorium in the temples and sometimes the deities in the pujas or yajnas at home in a clockwise direction. This is called Pradakshinam. We always assume God is the center of our existence. He also exists everywhere. So when we do Pradakshina or circumambulation, we accept that our actions and thoughts are always centred around God. The center point is always fixed and remains the same at whatever distance we do the pradakshina. So we are reminded of the eternal truth that God is the center of gravity and the main focus of our...

In every Hindu household it is customary to light the deepam ( lamp) twice, both in the morning and evening. This is usually done in the prayer room before the deity. Our daily worship starts with the lighting of the lamp. All auspicious functions, religious as well as social, start with the lighting of the lamp. This custom has deep intellectual and spiritual significance. Primarily deepam signifies knowledge. All our activities should be governed by the light of knowledge, especially the knowledge of dharma. By this knowledge, ignorance or darkness is dispelled. We bow to knowledge which is the...