By Linda Johnsen Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times Here at the Maha Kumbha Mela we’ve seen some extraordinary sights–thousands of orange robed renunciates streaming past our encampment, ascetics who have held their arms in the air continually for so long their fingernails have grown into their clenched fists, and old babas who have lain …

Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times Traditionally, Lalita Devi is said to be the presiding deity of Prayaga Raja. According to Tantrics, there are 51 shakti shrines located throughout India and the surrounding Himalayan kingdoms. Lalita Devi is one of them. The temple of Lalita Devi is situated near the Yamuna River in the locality …

by Linda Johnsen Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times As we watch the stream of sadhus file past our encampment on their way along the Ganges to the Maha Kumbha Mela, we can’t help noticing that almost all the orange robed ascetics are men. What is a woman’s role in the mela? Are women assigned …

by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Ph.D. Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times There has to be a bridge between here and hereafter, heaven and earth. To reach the next level of civilization, we must create an atmosphere that allows God to descend to earth and live among us. Only then we attain freedom from the fear …

by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Ph.D. Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times “‘East is east and west is west’ is a primitive idea,” said Swami Rama, my beloved master and the founder of the Himalayan International Institute. Humanity in both hemispheres is still incomplete, and each is in constant search for the next level of peace, …

by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times The scriptures state that God has a thousand names, and no one other than God knows all those thousand names. Just by knowing one name, an aspirant becomes a seer, a sage, the knower of the complete truth. God has a thousand faces, and by …

Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times Knowledge “Knowledge which doesn’t bring qualitative change in life is just a burden.” – Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Keep Walking “The field of knowledge is limitless. Therefore, keep walking, keep walking, keep walking. We are on an infinite path.” – Pandit Rajmani Tigunait

by Sandy Anderson Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times “I pray to the Divinity in you.” Swami Rama inevitably began his lectures with this statement. This morning we had a taste of how we might pray to that divinity within ourselves. Panditji taught the inner fire offering practice, the internal Rudra Yaga, which we have …

Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times So one afternoon Bhole (Swami Rama) expressed his astonishment to Sombari Baba, and asked him how it was that the fire didn’t burn him. “How can fire burn itself?” Sombari Baba replied. “Fire is me and I am fire. The whole universe is pervaded by fire, but is anything …

by Linda Johnsen Republished from the Kumbha Mela Times Stepping outside the main gate of the Himalayan Institute at Allahabad into the vibrant village life just beyond it, riding on tour buses or autorickshaws through rural India, and even walking through India’s crowded cities, we visitors from abroad find cows and buffaloes absolutely everywhere. Just …