INSPIRING QUOTES

The Yogis say that that part of the human energy which is expressed as sex energy, in sexual thought, when checked and controlled, easily becomes changed into Ojas, and as the Muladhara guides these, the Yogi pays particular attention to that centre. He tries to take up all his sexual energy and convert it into Ojas. It is only the chaste man or woman who can make the Ojas rise and store it in the brain; that is why chastity has always been considered the highest virtue. A man feels that if he is unchaste, spirituality goes away, he loses mental vigour and moral stamina. That is why in all the religious orders in the world which have produced spiritual giants you will always find absolute chastity insisted upon. That is why the monks came into existence, giving up marriage. There must be perfect chastity in thought, word, and deed; without it the practice of Raja-Yoga is dangerous, and may lead to insanity. If people practice Raja-Yoga and at the same time lead an impure life, how can they expect to become Yogis?

— Swami Vivekananda, CW Vol 1

Monthly Programme

Holy Lives

 

An Appeal

Dear devotees and friends,
Advaita Ashrama is one of the main publication centres of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Belur Math. It also undertakes other activities like medical, educational, relief, etc. for the benefit of people in need. All these activities are conducted through its two establishments, one in Mayavati (in Uttarakhand), and the other in Kolkata
To run these welfare undertakings as well as the day-to-day activities, the Ashrama has 59 employees (as in January 2020). Most of them are from poor rural or mountain background. Honest and hardworking, some of them have been working with us for as long as 3 decades, and some have even become devotees of our Mission. Each one of them supports a family comprised of wife, children and elderly members. Around 300 persons survive on the income of these employees of the Ashrama.
With the intention to raise the quality of life of these employees and their underprivileged families, we are creating a corpus fund meant exclusively for this purpose. We have a target of rupees 3 crores to be achieved in two phases. The first phase (after the collection of rupees 2 crores) will allow us to start providing these families with financial support for educational, medical or other urgent purposes. The second phase (after the collection of the remaining 1 crore) will enable us to sustain this project on a firm basis. We therefore appeal to our generous donors to come forward and help us, as they have done in the past, by donating munificently towards this noble cause.
You can donate online through our website: https://advaitaashrama.org/donate, or by Bank Transfer to State Bank of India, Branch Lohaghat,
A/C no. 10925686743, NEFT Code: SBIN0002569. Donations may also be made through A/C payee cheque or DD favouring “Advaita Ashrama”.
All donations to Advaita Ashrama are exempt from Income Tax liability under section 80G (5) of Income Tax Act 1961.
May the choicest blessings of the Divine be on you and your family.
Yours in the service of humanity
Swami Shuddhidananda
(Adhyaksha)

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Prabuddha Bharata Editorials

Current Editorial

Can Religion Be Avoided?
February 1, 2020

One of the unique teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda is their emphasis on the practice of religion. They, like many mystical saints across religions, stressed on experiencing religion. Religion was not to be seen as a mere web of theories, doctrines, and philosophies, but religion [...]

Previous Months

Practising Advaita
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The colonial hangover is not yet over. The previously colonised races are still living in the shadows of a dream-world of living that never was, a patronage of the all-powerful, all-knowing colonisers that never existed, and reminisce about the ‘good [...]

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It is common nowadays to see people more concerned about their selfish interests than the interests of the organisation or community that they belong to. All this they do in desperate bids for self-preservation. Often it is the contention of [...]