If you've ever embraced the phrase "be here now," practiced meditation or yoga, tried psychedelics, or supported anyone in a hospice, prison, or homeless center—then the story of Ram Dass is also part of your story.From his birth in 1931 to his luminous later years, Ram Dass saw his life as just one incarnation of many. This memoir puts us in the passenger seat with the one time Harvard psychologist and lifelong risk-taker Richard Alpert, who loved to take friends on wild rides on his Harley and test nearly every boundary—inner or outer—that came his way.Here, Ram Dass shares his life's odyssey in intimate detail: how he struggled with issues of self-identity and sexuality in his youth, pioneered psychedelic research, and opened the doorways to Eastern spiritual practices. In 1967 he trekked to India and met his guru, Neem Karoli Baba. He returned as a yogi and psychologist whose perspective changed millions.Populated by a cast of luminaries ranging from Timothy Leary to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Allen Ginsberg to Sharon Salzberg, Aldous Huxley to Alan Watts—this intimate memoir chronicles Ram Dass's experience of the cultural and spiritual transformations that resonate with us to this day, a journey from the mind to the heart, from the ego to the soul.Before, after, and along these waypoints, readers will encounter many other adventures and revelations—each ringing with the potential to awaken the universal, loving divine that links this beloved teacher to all of us.

    Curious about the places mentioned in the Ramayana, they set off on a journey of their own, following Rama's route from Ayodhya to the Dandakaranya forest and Panchavati (near Nashik) and on to Kishkindhya (close to Hampi), Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka.Along the way they would discover how closely the narrative of the Ramayana is linked to local folklore, and how the stories of the Ramayana and the moral framework that binds them together still speaks to the people who live in the land across which Rama, Sita and Lakshman made their journey.For the armchair traveller as well as the enthusiast for epic tales, this is a wonderful book with which to revisit the world of the Ramayana.

    Every Dussehra we celebrate the victory of Rama over Ravana, the victory of good over evil. Every Deepavali, we commemorate the return of Rama and Sita to Ayodhya and hear the tale of how the entire city was lit up to receive their beloved king and queen. But is the magnificent capital of Ayodhya just limited to this?Ayodhya was a renowned pilgrimage destination since the dawn of mankind, and after the birth of Lord Rama, it became a place of supreme importance for Hindus. Amazing Ayodhya is an attempt in gaining knowledge about this ancient city-its architecture, its design, its buildings and all the splendid details during the era when Lord Rama walked this earth. This splendidly researched book, replete with shlokas from the Valmiki Ramayana, offers authentic information about the city which will not only help understand the life and times of ancient Hindus but also the revered figures of Rama and Sita.Replete with descriptions, author Neena Rai draws out comparisons of an earlier era with our current life and culture, thus connecting the past with the present. She further compares Ayodhya with the cultures of other ancient civilisations so that the reader feels 'connected' to the past and the content of the book appears 'contemporary'.A fascinating account of an ancient city with significant contemporary relevance, Amazing Ayodhya is a must-read for a better understanding of history, scriptures and Hindu civilisation.

    What if they are both victims of the same deception, of the same multigenerational fraud?In 2016, the British Hindu community was rocked when it became the target of demonisation and dehumanisation by anti-Hindu Anglican Evangelists. Allegations were made that caste discrimination was not a relic of history but was present and not only present but rife amongst the British Indian community. The difficulty was that there was no experience of it at the grass roots level, and there was no evidence of it being either systemic nor endemic, so what was afoot? The author Pt Satish K Sharma, a Dharmic Scholar and Theologian and a long serving community worker under took the task of determining, once and for all, the real history of Caste and of establishing and quantifying its presence or absence in the Britain of the 21st Century. There were mountains of academic accounts of the theory, allegations and anecdotes abounded and yet the reality at ground level was remarkably different.The revelations contained in this work were the revelations which incinerated the false claims which had been levelled, revealed the hidden hand behind the anti-Hindu media campaign but also provided the context and framework with which this long running civilisational wound could heal.The contents of this book include actual communications which took place, the information which was presented to Parliamentarians. Legislators and Community leaders as well as eye witness accounts of meetings and "consultations", as well as the authors research, research which led eventually to the senior leaders of the Church of England requesting that Parliament review the whole issue once more.We have the strange situation that Parliament passed legislation without adequate consultation and the Government chose not to enact the legislation, a phenomenon never before arisen in British History, this book provides the answers as to why. The Caste issue remains a colonialist force for harm, and the tropes which underly it cause suffering to the Hindu community in every corner of the world even today, as Isabel Wilkersons recent tragically uninfomed book prove. This book will go a long way to to reversing this harm and should be compulsory reading for every Hindu, Christian and activist working to reverse the civilisational trauma of European Colonialism"I find it extraordinary that there are issues here of which until now I have had absolutely no knowledge. My feeling is that the majority of native Britons will share this reaction. The Church, Christianity, which had perverted the simple message of its founder, believed it could justify imposing its version on a "primitive" people with a concept of original sin and the claim that it alone possessed the means to personal salvation. Between them, they were able to devise an extraordinarily successful divide-and-rule format which did immense damage to that country... Please forgive us now, so that we can move forward together."M Purton BBC Producer (Retd)

    This book fills a dire need to chronicle the great educational heritage of India. It describes a unique ecosystem which ensured that Gurus and Acharyas handed the lamp of learning to generations of students. As the author puts it, “When swords quenched their thirst and famine ravaged the lands, Indians still held on to their truth that there was nothing more purifying than knowledge.” She has collated information from oral history, local lore, travelogues, surviving literature, inscriptions, salvaged manuscripts and accounts of scholars and laity. Historically, the book covers a vast time span from ancient India’s traditions to the deliberate destruction of its heritage. It also outlines steps that can be taken today to incorporate the most relevant aspects of ancient learning systems into the current structure of school and university education.

    Its main focus is the Bhagavata religion that evolved around Vasudeva Krishna of the Vrishni clan. At Mathura, several noteworthy archaeological finds dated to the early Common Era were recovered from the site of Katra Keshavadeva.In the medieval period, Katra Keshavadeva was subjected to repeated devastation, beginning with that by Mahmud Ghaznavi in 1071 CE. However, within a century a temple dedicated to Vishnu was built at Katra Keshavadeva. Thereafter, the story of destruction followed by construction was repeated over and over again.In the early 17th century, the Keshavadeva temple was rebuilt by Bir Singh Deo Bundela. In 1670, the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb ordered its destruction. An Idgah was built at the site. Later developments at Katra Keshavadeva were recorded in the judicial records of colonial India. In 1815, Katra Keshavadeva was sold by auction to Raja Patnimal of Banaras.On 8th February 1944, the heirs of Raja Patnimal sold Katra Keshavadeva to Seth Jugal Kishore Birla, who created a trust for the construction of a temple for Shree Krishna. In a surprising development, on 12th October 1968, approximately two bighas of Katra Keshavadeva were handed over to Trust Masjid Idgah.Many documents pertaining to events at Katra Keshavadeva after 1815 are perhaps being presented to the general reader for the first time. The documents attest to the dogged Hindu commitment to the site.Meenakshi Jain is a historian interested in cultural and religious developments in ancient and medieval India. Her recent publications include Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples(2019); The Battle for Rama: Case of the Temple at Ayodhya (2017); Sati: Evangelicals, Baptist Missionaries, and the Changing Colonial Discourse (2016); and Rama and Ayodhya (2013). In 2020, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.

    Specifically, if Mahabharat war was fought in 3139 BCE, are we not supposed to conclude that the Harappan Civilisation was actually the Vedic civilisation of Mahabharat era? The reader will be enthralled to look at the evidence of the Kali Era conjunction in the morning of 19th February 3102 BCE, heralding the beginning of Kaliyuga.Besides astronomy, the book puts forth evidence from seven disciplines of science. It proves the profound philosophy of Bhagavad Gita was actually passed on to the world on Shukla Ekadashi of Margashirsha Month in 3139 BCE. Most of the excavated sites, having carbon dates of samples and artefacts around 3000 BCE and associated with Harappan civilisation, were actually located within the territories of kingdoms which participated in Mahabharat war. Also, this book takes note of different claims made by esteemed scholars on the date of Mahabharat war, and establishes that the war took place in the year 3139 BCE, adding to the healthy discourse on the timing of Mahabharat war.The research for this book entailed detailed reading and interpretation of Mahabharat by Sanskrit scholars; getting exact sky-views through the software, calculating and adjusting for the changes in astronomical situations down thousands of years and re-visiting the findings to make them error-free.

    Shouldn’t temple management also follow the āgama-s?Steeped in a history of more than two millennia, the real bequest of India’s ancient temples is that they are still living sacred spaces. The gods that were invoked in these temples more than a thousand years ago, continue to reside in the sanctums and gaze benevolently upon their devotees. The bells ring for morning service as they did a thousand years ago. The ācārya waves the ārati just as another ācārya did a thousand years ago. No other organization in the world can boast of such amazing continuity. The secret to this longevity lies in the āgama-s.Āgama-s are the traditional canon believed to be as old as the Vedas, with detailed manuals on temple-building, consecration and ritual worship. While the world outside the temples – a world of kings and kingdoms – has changed, temples continue to follow the āgama-s in letter and spirit in their everyday religious function, notwithstanding the many changes in administrative formats. By studying the activities of the temple, material and manpower required, qualifications and roles prescribed for the temple professionals, this thesis attempts to reconstruct an āgamic temple management framework, using the Kāmikāgama as primary text with other āgama-s, secondary literature and inscriptional evidence as required.

    Believed to be an immortal and one of the greatest warriors in the Hindu mythology, Parasuram is present in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, thus marking his presence in the Treta as well as in the Dwapara Yuga.Parasuram is the embodiment of duty and justice. His actions—going on a khastriya killing spree to avenge his father’s death; punishing the sea god Varuna for encroaching on the holy land Gokarna; challenging Lord Ram to a duel for breaking Lord Shiva’s bow; waging a war with Bhishma for the injustice done to Amba …—all point to his firm belief in truth and righteousness.Parasuram’s story shows you that you don’t have to be stuck in a mould others expect you to be in; you are free to choose your path, your truth. Read on to discover the many heroic feats of Parasuram and be inspired to take charge of your life.V. S. Rao is a celebrated Telugu author, playwright, translator and scriptwriter. He has 90 titles to his credit, including short stories, novels, children’s books and plays. His writing spans a variety of genres, from thrillers, drama, mythology, philosophy to lyrics for devotional albums. He is the recipient of numerous literary honors and awards.