Since 1971, Pramukh Swami has been the spiritual leader of the worldwide Bochanasanwasi Swaminarayan Sanstha. He is the spiritual successor in a divine lineage that extends back to Swaminarayan in the 19th century. He is also the administrative leader of the worldwide BSS community.

The Bhagavad Gita or “Song of the Lord” forms part of the sixth book of the epic Mahabharata and contains Lord Krishna’s teachings to the warrior Arjuna. The Gita is beloved by Hindus for its message of selfless action and devotion to God.

Holi is a Hindu springtime festival, marked by rituals of revelry including “playing” with colored powder which celebrants throw on one another. In some temples Krishna participates by throwing the colors on his devotees. Holi falls on the first day of the waning fortnight of the lunar month of March/April.

A nun is a woman who renounces worldly life and is ordinarily a member of a monastic order or community, thereby undertaking a special commitment to study, service, asceticism, prayer, or disciplined spiritual practice. In the Buddhist tradition, fully ordained nuns are called bhikkhunis, those who beg alms, depending upon the laity for their food and support. The early lineage of bhikkhunis died out long ago in the Theravada traditions of South Asia, but was preserved in the Mahayana traditions of East Asia where nuns outnumber monks today in Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the Jain tradition,... Read more about nun

Siddha Yoga Dham Associates (SYDA) was launched by Swami Muktananda (1908-1982) in 1974. Siddha Yoga teaches that each individual has an inner transformative energy, or shakti, that is dormant within. The Siddha Guru can awaken this spiritual energy through an initiation called shaktipat, which enables the seeker to enter deep and joyful states of meditation that have a transforming effect on one’s life. The Siddha Yoga movement continues today under the leadership of Muktananda’s spiritual successor, Gurumayi, an Indian-born woman who leads the SYDA central ashram in South Fallsburg, New... Read more about Siddha Yoga Dham

The Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement launched in the late 19th century by Swami Dayananda Sarasvati, who advocated a return to what he believed to be the monotheism of the Vedas, rejecting image-worship.

Guru Purnima is a yearly observance honoring the guru or teacher. It falls on the full moon day (purnima) of the lunar month of July/August.

Nammalvar was a 9th century Tamil poet-saint whose poems, called the Tiruvaymoli, are considered by the Shri Vaishnavas to be “the Tamil Veda.” The image of Nammalvar as a great devotee of Vishnu is often found in South Indian Vaishnava temples.

Shakta is an adjective which means relating to the Goddess or the worship of the Goddess, also known as Shakti, a term which means power or energy. As a noun, a Shakta is a person who worships the Goddess.

Ananthapadmanabha is a name of Vishnu as the Infinite Lord, in the Hindu tradition, from whose body or navel the lotus of the whole created world arises.

Ganesha is the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati and the keeper of the thresholds of space and time, to be honored at the doorway and at the outset of any venture. He is both the “lord of beginnings” and the “remover of obstacles.”

A monastery is the residence of monks, or monastics; the term is commonly used in both the Christian and Buddhist traditions. Monasticism refers to the life of work, study, and discipline led by monks and nuns.

In the religious traditions of India, a sadhu is a holy man, an ascetic who has renounced the world. In the Jain tradition monks (sadhus) and nuns (sadhvis) are also called munis, literally the “silent” holy ones. Traditionally, they are supposed to move from village to village, accepting only what food someone offers them along the way. They go by foot, for travel by vehicles is seen to be much more damaging to the multitude of tiny life-forms. During the four months of the monsoon season, the monks and nuns settle down in various villages in order to avoid harming the many organisms that... Read more about sadhu

Vivekananda (1863-1902) was the foremost disciple of the great mystic Ramakrishna. Well educated and articulate in English, he spoke at the World’s Parliament of Religion in Chicago in 1893, describing Vedanta as a rational, spiritual, and universal tradition. He established Ramakrishna Vedanta Societies in the United States and the more socially-activist Ramakrishna Mission in India before his death at thirty-nine years of age.

Sarada Devi was the wife of Sri Ramakrishna, the 19th century mystic of Calcutta. She was originally a village woman, who became worshipped by Ramakrishna not as his earthly wife, but as the divine Holy Mother. Her special place in the Ramakrishna movement in India and the Vedanta Societies in America is perhaps second only to Ramakrishna himself. Her image is invariably present in Vedanta Society sanctuaries. She lived three decades after Ramakrishna’s death, dying only in 1920.