DHYAN FOUNDATION

The ever-powerful goddess’s presence can be traced across the globe in numerous religions, myths and texts. As per modern historians and geologists, the world as we know today was one big landmass called the ‘Pangea’ many thousand years ago. If one reads the creation story in various cultures, they talk about a flood and a saviour. So then, does it mean that all of us—geographies and cultures irrespective—have common roots, a common origin, and are governed by the same energy? As per Vedic philosophy, there are three aspects of Creation: creation, preservation and transformation, and to run these functions the Divine energy assumes the triple form of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, with the propelling forces Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga respectively. Interestingly, these pieces of evidence are not limited to the Indian subcontinent but can be found all across the globe. In this article, we will trace the presence of Durga or Adi Shakti cross the world map. Another name f...

This was nearly 15 years ago, we were travelling to the higher reaches of Badrinath and on the way back we went into a restaurant just outside the temple. We asked for some cow milk and told the owner to be doubly sure that it was cow milk and not powdered milk; he assured us and went into the kitchen. We waited for 10 minutes and then I decided to take a look in the kitchen. Inside to my surprise, I saw him boiling water and adding powdered milk to it! On confronting, he cheekily replied, “Now where do I get cows here?” I told him that if you people won’t send your cows to the butchers then you would have them and your character would be devik and not asuric, for this is what you people have become. How can you fool people at the dham of Vishnu? Another time on my visit to Kedarnath, I found families thronging the shrine in a picnic and holiday mood, filmi songs blaring and card parties galore. Inside the dharamshalas surrounding the shrine, people dressed as Shiva waving their tr...

A yogi who doesn't believe in religion is usually hard to come by. But  Delhi-based yogi  Ashwini proudly states "I'm an atheist. I don't believe in religion despite being a yogi." Claiming that "there is no such thing as religion", he adds, "Yoga is a science." Yogi Ashwini was recently in Saligao with his disciple Chandni Jain, to promote her book 'Doomsday Y' . Jain said she accidentally landed at the yogi's ashram. There she "was introduced to some practices of sanatan kriya and realized the science behind it." She said she "used to make fun of it earlier and thought it was boring". "But it has been a process of learning and I have experienced it myself," she said. Explaining how the yogi suggested that she write the book, Jain said, "I was skeptical but he said if you have changed, others can also change." "How many of us actually know our culture?" Ashwini interje...