What is an Ashram? Spiritual Retreat Centres!

• No meat: vegetarian food


• No alcohol or other intoxicants


• No smoking

• No sweets or sugar


• No coffee or tea (these contain caffeine)

• No tv, radio or internet


• Strict rules about waking and sleeping times


• Silence, except during talks with a spiritual teacher


• Shared physical activities like cooking, cleaning and gardening

After the Vedas the Upanishads are the most revered texts in Hinduism. What are the Upanishads? The Upanishads are texts which contain the basis of the later...

For your faithful yoga practitioner, or someone who wants to start, here are some great yoga gifts. From yoga gear to unique yoga interior design ideas, from...

Learn about karma and reincarnation from the perspective of Buddhism, Theosophy and Hinduism. But also based on the science of past life memories of children...

There is a whole genre of funny movies that most of us will never have seen: Indian music video's turned into humor. Some of these were made by and for ...

Makar Sankranti is an ancient Hindu festival which has been celebrated for thousands of years. Makar Sankranti celebrates the the transition of the Sun from...

Karma and reincarnation are linked. Karma is the idea that what we do and have done influences our circumstances, talents and options. Reincarnation means ...

A very scholarly translation and commentary on THE yoga classic: the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. Taimni not only explains each sutra, but also puts them in...

Who doesn't know the Indian mantra 'aum' - and use it when they want to make fun of new age spirituality? Aum is actually a sacred mantra for all Indian religions...

What is an ashram? Why go on a spiritual retreat? This lens explains the way of life on an ashram and has links to ashrams and pictures of ashrams. An ashram...

Bhanwar lal Girdhari lal Sharma (B. G. Sharma) is an award-winning painter from Rajasthan, India. He is famous for his miniature devotional paintings and his...

If you're doing yoga and you're a man, you will want to go to class well dressed. After all, there's all those ladies there. Don't worry about us thinking ill...

Yoga is practiced by millions of people all over the world. They belong to different faiths and celebrate all the festivals mankind does. If you are a Yogi,...

Can you learn yoga out of a book? Well, perhaps you can. Just be VERY careful to not force things. Have some fun and relax into the poses. Accept where you are. ...

Well, not quite. The Vedas are however some of the oldest texts to have survived as living literature till our time. The Veda are the literature of the Brahman...

Chair yoga books are perfect for the active senior or anybody else in your life who wants to stay fit but is maybe limited in mobility. Chair yoga books yoga...

Hindi is the first language of around half a billion people in the North, West, and Central regions of India and also the official language of the Indian...

Kamadeva carries a Sugarcane Bow and Floral Arrow, and like his Roman counterpart Cupid - the arrows give birth to desire. Kamadeva's two wives are Rati and...

On this lens I've gathered together all that I've published online about Hinduism and yoga, but it all starts with a pop quiz: how well do YOU know your...

The Guru Shishya Parampara/Tradition is a very important part of the Hindu culture and religion. The oral transmission of sacred knowledge, from the teacher...

The music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, and classical music. On this lens you will find modern video's with India's classical...

The Bhagavad Gita has been translated into Western languages numerous times. The translation I present to you here is by Juan Mascaro, who was as much a po...

Not only is Yoga good for our body and mind, it also shares a deeper Spiritual resonance with Valentine's. Yoga literally means "to unite" or "to become on...

India is, to me, one of the most fascinating countries in the world. The variety of peoples there, the variety of religions and philosophical perspectives,...

Children have a great ability to absorb new ideas and thoughts. Therefore, it makes sense to instill Sikh Values in kids from the very beginning. The noble...

Some Yoga poses require a great deal of balance and flexibility. Unfortunately not all of us have the levels of fitness these Yoga Asanas require. The Great...