Swati Chopra
The truth seekers
The wisdom traditions of Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent, are originators of some of the most interesting and varied models of spiritual seeking.
Tryst with sky dancers
As we celebrate Navratri, the festival of nine nights of the goddess, let us consider a lesser-known feminine divinity — the Dakini.
Peace seekers amidst chaos
Countless women have walked the inner paths of spiritual realisation despite the thorns placed in their way by patriarchy, discrimination and unequal opportunities. Their journeys have been characterised by courage, determination, ingenuity and creativity. What is amazing is the inventiveness women have displayed when they couldn’t get past their gender roles. In the Indian spirit of cobbling together a workable solution with whatever you have, they did jugaad and found ways to lead spiritually rich lives under the skin of their worldly selves.
Be your own lamp
After nirvana, for some time, the Buddha remained silent. Seven weeks later, he made his way to Deer Park at Sarnath, near Varanasi, where he met his five former ascetic companions.
Buddha and Bodhi tree
Every December, on the day of the full moon, an Indian ancestress is celebrated in Sri Lanka. She is Sanghamitra, daughter of Emperor Ashoka, who, along with her brother, Mahendra, helped establish the Buddha dharma here in the 3rd century BC. She is also revered as the one who brought a branch of the original Bodhi tree, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, and which continues to be a powerful sacred presence in ordinary people’s lives even today.
Blueprint for a good life
India today seems to be in a fevered rush to embrace uninhibited consumerism and mindless materialism.
I wouldn’t say spiritual values have been lost entirely. But there are signs of erosion, most evident in the loss of balance between the four aspects of life — dharma (ethical living), artha (wealth creation), kama (pursuit of pleasure), and moksha (liberation and spirituality). Each had its place in the matrix of life, which is no longer the case, with artha assuming precedence over everything else.
Be the awakened one
The term“awakening” has long been used to denote the experience of spiritual realisation — of self, reality, God, emptiness. It has been described as a point of transition, where a limited way of seeing and being is altered because of an immense opening up that happens in one’s consciousness.
Istanbul’s azaan
One of the first and lasting impressions of Istanbul — ancient capital of empires — is the call to prayer. It rings out simultaneously at the appointed times from various mosques, old and new, that dot the city. Though the tone and pitch of the voices of the muezzins vary, they share a quality of passionate intensity that inspires a response in all those who hear it.
Satyagrahi,ask thyself
Satyagraha literally means an insistence on truth. If we consider the movement against corruption that has gripped our national imagination today as a contemporary satyagraha, we must also be willing to examine the truth and all its constituents, beginning with ourselves.
