DHYAN FOUNDATION

Sattvam rajas tama iti gunaah prakritisambhavaah Nibadhnanti mahaabaaho dehe dehinam avyayam — Bhagvad Gita, Chapter 14, Verse 5                         Yogi Ashwini, When purush (soul) combines with prakriti (creation), in the form of three gunas — satva, rajas and tama — a being takes birth in creation. Light, happiness and gyan are properties of satva, rajas pertains to desires, attachments and resultant actions, and tama is darkness, ignorance and sleep. At all times, all the three gunas are present in a human being, one dominating the other, depending on the desire and state of evolution of being. Ordinary beings are ruled by tama, which is also the guna dominant in animals and other lower beings. When a being leaves the body with the dominance of tama guna, s/he gets the animal yonis and enters into the netherworlds says the Bhagvad G...

How does one express spirituality? The most basic way is through one's deeds. These deeds involve being a better human being who is sensitive towards other human beings, that is, being humane. This is the guiding theme of this year's World Confluence on Humanity, Power and Spirituality. Organised by the Srei Foundation, Business Economics and the Institute of Inspiration and Self-Development, the annual World Confluence, has since the last four years, sought to bring together people from different career paths onto a common platform whose hallmark is spirituality through service. Eschewing doctrinaire and divisive interpretation of religion, the World Confluence seeks a commingling of the beliefs and practices of different faiths, which elevate and empower the mind, soul and body. The purpose is to harmonise thoughts with actions, and bring unity rather than create divisions among people of different faiths; the binding factor is the expression of spirituality through h...

The entire creation consists of purush and prakriti or the five elements, which in various permutations and combinations make the creation in totality. All individual beings are a part of these five elements at the physical level. The purush aspect is individualistic and manifests at will, where the combination of these elements are most suitable for it backed by its karmic balance. Most perceive the world and themselves as just the five elements and all they worry about are those five elements, nothing more than that. Sanatan Kriya details these as bandhans, those who do not have these bandhans are called bandhan mukt. Stillness is the key to untie oneself from these bandhans. In vedic sciences, there is specific practice called tatva shuddhi that leads to stillness of the five elements, or prakriti. Only when that stillness is achieved are you able to access the other part of the creation, the purush tatva. Till your elemental or physical awareness does not dissolve, yo...