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Hindu Heritage Society was founded to preserve, the great values of our beloved Dharma. It is dedicated to promote “Adhyatmik” education, the divine Art and the religious heritage. We are one of many arms of the Virat Purush to contribute as per our capacity.
We provide guidance to students, religious service to families and we also participate in community activities and support sister organisations. Our aim is to help the needy, our desire is to see our community get the needed resources and information.
This website is one of the examples of seva and was established to put all the relevant information together for our readers and make it easy to understand Hinduism. It is a purely voluntary service by our members, who are doing a tremendous job by sacrificing hours of their time, to do research, by holding meetings with community leaders, meeting needy people to understand their problems and by publishing free books and articles.
Seva is a Sanskrit word from the root “sev” meaning, to attend to or to go towards. In English, Seva has been translated as “selfless service”. A selfless person puts the wellbeing of others ahead of any need for personal gain or achievement. This principle of Seva or selfless service may seem unfamiliar to those who have been taught that the most important goals in life are to get ahead of the competition so you can “succeed in life” or to be the best you can be.
A more harmonious way of living would be to follow the example of the Sun – it shines on all equally, providing support for the growth of all beings. Another example would be a river, which flows for others and the trees which never eat their fruits themselves, but always live for others.
Our Shastras repeatedly said that –
Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Shantu Nir – aamayaah |
Sarve Bhadraani Pashyantu, Maa Kashchid-Dukha – Bhaag-Bhavet |
May All become Happy; may All become free from Illness; may All see what is Auspicious; Let no one Suffer.
God is Love and can be won only through the cultivation and exercise of Love. He cannot be trapped by any trick; He yields Grace only when His commands are followed – command to love all, serve all. When you love and serve all, you are serving yourself most, yourself whom you love most! For God’s Grace envelops you then and you are strengthened beyond all previous experience. Let all days of living be a continuous offering of Love, as an oil lamp exhausts itself in illumining the surroundings. Bend the body, mend the senses and end the mind – that is the process of attaining the status of ‘children of immortality’, which the Upanishads have reserved for man.
God is the embodiment of sweetness. Attain Him by offering Him, who resides in all, the sweetness that He has dowered on you. Crush the cane in the mill of Seva, boil it in the cauldron of penitence; decolorize it of all sensual itch; offer the crystallized sugar of compassionate Love to Him.
Seva (service) brings out all that is great in man. It broadens the heart and widens ones vision. It fills one with joy. It promotes unity. It proclaims the truth of the spirit. It drives out all evil qualities in a man. It must be regarded as a great spiritual discipline. You are born to serve, not to dominate. Everyone in the world is a servant and not a master. All relationships – husband and wife, mother and child, the employer and employee – are based on mutual service. The world is progressing because of such mutual service. Seva should be done out of a sense of duty.
The body has been given to man for the performance of right action. Every person has to discharge his duties in life. It is a sin to ignore one’s duties. Perform you duties without regard to what others say or do. Engage yourself in service activity. Consider social service as service to God. To earn the Love of God, this is the easiest way. The best way to love God is to love all and serve all. Your entire life sanctified thereby.
Devotion consists in expressing love towards all. You cannot effect a change of heart by speeches. They often lead to confusion and conflict. Better than speeches is practice of love with faith in the divine. Follow the path of love and redeem your love.
Man knows that God is the very embodiment of love. Only through the cord of love can God be bound. But it is only when love is for love’s sake that this cord can bind God to man. If love is motivated by desire for worldly objects, God will be beyond our reach. You must become embodiments of love. If you are merely loving, your love will be confined to a few. Only when you become the embodiment of love can your love comprehend all. Only then you will realize that it is the same God who is the in-dweller in all beings.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the Divine who has not only endowed us with this precious human body but which also sustains it. We shall be able to enjoy these gifts of the Divine only if we discharge this debt to the Divine. How is this to be done? It is by rendering service to other bodies saturated with the same Divine, by doing righteous deeds and consecrating all actions in the service of the society. This debt to the Divine has to be discharged in full in this life itself or during many future lives. The earlier we repay this debt, the sooner we shall realize Divinity.
It is needless to search for God. Verily you are the Divine. Strive to realize this Truth. There is a simple and easy way. Have faith that every human being is an embodiment of the Divine. Love every one. Serve all. The best way to God is to LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL.
Ref: Divine Discourses:
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Engage yourselves in service activity. Consider social service as service to God. This is the best way to earn God’s Love. Love all and serve all. Your entire life will be sanctified thereby.
– Sathya Sai Baba
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“In this age of selfishness, selfless service (Seva) is the only soap that truly purifies”
“Those who perform selfless actions don’t have to tire themselves looking for God anywhere, for God’s true shrine is the heart of the person who performs selfless service.”
“To be able to see our own Self in every living thing with both our eyes open – that is Self-realization. We must see ourselves in others and love and serve them. That is when spiritual practice achieves perfection.”
“We should make sure that our spiritual practice is accompanied by selfless service. That would be like pouring milk into a clean vessel. On the other hand, spiritual practice without selfless service is like pouring milk into a dirty vessel.”
“It is through selfless actions that one becomes qualified to receive God’s grace.”
– Amma.
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The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in doing so will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price.
– Eugene B. Habecker (The Other Side of Leadership)
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Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.
– Mahatma Gandhi
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All the people over the earth (Pruthiwyam Sarvamanavaha) should take lessons about living and building their characters from the ancestors (Rishis and Saints) (Agrajanmanaha) who took birth in this land, Nation. (Etaddesh prasootasya) The Hindu culture and heritage is the greatest of it’s kind in this world and has power to lead and show right path to the whole world.
Any work will not get accomplished just merely by desiring for its completion. A ‘prey’ by itself doesn’t enter in to the sleeping lion’s mouth. By giving an example of a lion the subhashitkAra here wants to emphasize that the desire and capabilities should be added by the efforts and hard work to achieve the goal! Even if the lion has the capabilities to catch its prey, the prey will not automatically fall in its mouth.
A beautiful, colourful flower but which doesn’t have a nice fragrance doesn’t seem good. (A flower apart from being colourful should also have a nice fragrance only then it’s utility increases) . Similarly without action, only good talk doesn’t seem good. To stress the point that apart from being ‘kind-spoken’ to everyone, one should also support it by his/her own actions, the subhAshitkar has given an example of a colourful flower but without fragrance. If flower doesn’t spread it’s fragrance around then what is the use of its attractive looks. The colour of the flower is its external beauty while it’s fragrance is its ‘guna’ – ie. one of the qualities. One of the great saints Samartha Swami Ramdas has said ‘kriyavena vaachalata vyartha aahe’ – ie. without the ‘kartuttva’, the ‘vaani’ has no meaning.
“You do good to somebody, it remains good if you do it in the name of your own God. That is a seva. If you do it in the name of your own spirit, your own soul, that is seva. If you do something expecting something tomorrow, you better not do it. It’s not worth it. It’s not seva. Seva is a conscious and deliberate service to benefit another person, even at your cost. Remember, whosoever does seva it is one to a hundred, God comes through.”
– Yogi Bhajan
Home / Services / Poojan Samagri
General pujan samgri Lists
These pujan lists are only for basic guidance and your Priest may require more or fewer things to complete the prayer. Please seek advice from your Purohit before making a final decision.
Please select the appropriate puja list from the Online Resources page. If you do not see the list you want simply print the Normal puja list and consult with your Purohit for more guidance.
Hindu Reference Library Sydney Australia
Our aim is to build an online collection of Hinduism.
About the project
Hindu tradition was carried out as a Guru Shishya Parampara since its inception. Our gurus war mobile libraries and they had all the needed knowledge in their vast memory.
The times have changed and we are in 21st century where knowledge became more complicated then it was previously. Our great Rishis had realised it earlier and the knowledge is written in several scripts. We started from Vedic Sanskrit and then in Sanskrit. After some time it has borne several languages and now we have Hindu literature available in various languages. HRL will gradually produce the original scripts for our readers in the future, however, the links in this site will be most likely in the English language.
We invite students, professionals, scholars to contribute to this project as per their capacity. We aim to make this project like a one stop shop and all content is available on the online resources section of the HHS website.
HHS Publications
Reference Materials
Useful links
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